Burner grate construction



Nov. 25, 1958 JENSEN 2,861,563

BURNER GRATE CONSTRUCTION Filed May 15, 1955 i 9 Z? 2/ Z 7 A? 'lg ig\\\\\\\\\\\vimys 7////////// A "a 25 26 In Van/0r flames of a burner.

2,861,563 BURNER GRATE CONSTRUCTION Lionel R. Jensen, Rockford, Ill.,assignor, by mesne assignments, to Geo. D. Roper Corp., Chicago, 111., acorporation of Delaware Application May 13, 1955, Serial No. 508,222 i 1Claim. Cl. 126-214) This invention relates to burner grates and moreparticularly to a top burner grate for a gas stove.

It has heretofore been proposed to mount a diffuser plate on a topburner grate of a gas stove to diffuse the The previous constructions ofsuch grates, wherein the diffuser plate has been mounted directly on theinner ends of the grate arms, have not been entirely satisfactory due tothe tendency of the diffuser plate to rattle on the grate arms and alsodue to the ease with which the diffuser plate could be accidentallydislodged from its mounting on the grate arms and drop through the grateor onto the floor. When the diffuser plate was formed of a frangiblematerial such as glass, this frequently resulted in the breaking of thediffuser plate.

Another problem presented in the use of glass diffuser plates on theburner grate was the tendency of the diffuser plate to adhere to thegrate after-use and prevent its removal for cleaning. The grates aregenerally formed of a cast material and then coated with an enamel toprovide a smooth surface which can be easily cleaned. The enamel coatingon the grate tends to fuse with the glass baffle plates, at the hightemperatures to which the grates are subjected during use, so thatsubsequent removal of the batfle plates from the grates was frequentlyrendered difiicult.

An important object of this invention is the provision of an improvedconstruction for removably mounting a diffuser plate on the burner gratein such a manner as to minimize rattle of the diffuser plate and preventaccidental dislodgement of the plate from the grate.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an improved grateconstruction for preventing fusion of a glass 'baflle plate to anenameled grate during use.-

These, together with various ancillary objects and advantages of thisinvention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description when takenin connection wtih the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a top plan view of a burner grate having the diffuser platemounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the grate, taken on the plane 22 ofFig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the burner grate anddiffuser plate support ring taken on the plane 33 of Fig. 1.

The burner grate of the present invention is generally applicable foruse on stove tops, in conjunction with the top burners thereon, andcomprises an outer grate ring 10, preferably Shaped complementary to theopening in the stove top and herein illustrated as being generallyrectangular in configuration. The grate ring is formed with a pluralityof annularly spaced utensil support arms designated 11-18 respectively,which support arms extend inwardly of the grate ring to support autensil.

Provision is made for mounting a diffuser plate 21 on the utensilsupport arms and in order to reduce rattling a United States Patent 0 ofthe diffuser plate on the support arms and also prevent accidentaldislodgement of the diffuser plate from the support arms, the diffuserplate is mounted on a support ring 22 which is attached to the innerends of the utensil support arms. More specifically, the utensil supportring 22 is mounted on the inner ends of three of the support arms whichsupport arms, designated 11, 14 and 16 are annularly spaced from eachother. The remaining support arms 12, 13, 15, 17 and 18 extend inwardlytoward the support ring 22 and terminate in spaced relation thereto.

The support ring comprises a flat annular portion 24 adapted to rest onthe enlarged inner end portions 110, 14a and 16a of the support arms 11,14 and 16 respectively, and a depending flange 25 formed on the inneredge of the flat annular portion. An inwardly extending ledge 26 isformed on the lower end of the depending flange 25 and extends inwardlyof the'support ring to support the diffuser plate 21 thereon. As bestshown in Fig. 2, the diffuser plate rests on the ledge 26 with theperiphery thereof spaced inwardly from the depending flange 25. A flange27 is formed on the outer periphery of the flat annular portion 24 andforms, in conjunction with the flat annular portion and the inner flange25, a relatively rigid annular channel to inhibit distortion of theplane of the support ring 22. Notches 28 are formed in the upper edgesof each of the enlarged inner end portions of the arms 11, 14 and 16,inwardly of the inner ends thereof, to receive the outer flange 27 onthe support ring when the latter is supported on the arms. Tapped bores29 are formed in the enlarged inner end portion of each of the arms 11,14 and 16 to receive the support ring attaching bolts 31 and the fiatannular portion 24 0f the support ring is formed with annulardepressions 32 around the bolt openings 33 therein so that the heads ofthe bolts 31 will lie flush with the upper surface of a support ring.

Since the relatively rigid diffuser support ring 22 is mounted on onlythree of the grate arms, it is apparent that unequal distortion of thegrate arms from the normal plane thereof will not materially distort theplane of the support ring 22. If one or more of the support arms 11, 14or 16 should deflect out of the normal plane of the support arms, itwill only cause a slight tilting of the support ring 22 so that thediffuser plate 21 mounted on the inwardly extending ledge 26 willuniformly contact the ledge and not tend to rattle. Further, since thesupport ring 22 completely surrounds the periphery of the diffuserplate, it is apparent that accidental dislodgement of the diffuserplate, as when moving a pan onto or off from the grate, will not readilyoccur.

The burner grate is generally formed of a cast material such as castiron, and the grate support arms 11- 18 inclusive are formed integrallywith the grate ring. In order to facilitate cleaning of the grate, thegrate is customarily coated with an enamel indicated at 38 to provide asmooth surface which may be easily cleaned. The diffuser plate 21 ispreferably formed of a transparent material such as the high silicaglass sold under the trade name of Vyco-r, which glass has a lowcoefficient of thermal expansion and consequently does not readilyfracture when rapidly heated or cooled. The glass tends to fuse with theenamel coatings customarily provided on grates and in accordance withthe present invention, the diffuser plate support ring 22 is formed of asmooth stamped metal part which does not have an enamel coating.Consequently, the glass diffuser plate 21 does not tend to become fusedwith the grate during use, as occured in the previous grateconstructions wherein the glass diffuser plate was supported directly onthe inner ends of the enamel coated grate arms. The diffuser'platetherefore remainsseparable from the burner grate to'enablecleaning of'the difiuser plate and grate.

I claim:

A burner grate eonstruetion for a gas burner comnrising' anenai'neleoated,grat'having an outer ring adapted tobe supported on astove top and more thanthree"in wafdly extending annularly spaced arms,a set of three-of saidannularlysiaaeed arms extending radially inward ofthe otherof'said-arrns, a support ring having a fiat annular portionoverlying the inner ends of said set of three arms, means forfasteningsaidfiat'portion to said set of 'three arrns," depending innerand outer flanges on the innet and oliter edges of said flat annularportion forming a-ohannel therewith, an inwardly extending-ledge portionon the lower edge of the inner flange, said set of three arrns havingnotches formed in the upper edges thereof for receiving the outer flangeon the support ring; and a"glassdifffiser plate disposed on said ledge'portion and spaced inwardly of the inner flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED PATENTS 951,088Ziganek Mar. 1, 1910 1,567,870 SerVell -Q Dec: 29, 1925 2,075,108 FrickMar. 30, '1937 2,148,777 Schneider et al. Feb. 28," 1939 2,172,469Grigas Sept. 12,-1939 2,298,307 Parker Oct. 13, 1942 2,307,063 Parker.Q; "14.151115, 1943 2,361,317 Cathy-n0; Oct. 24, 1944 2,466,979 BauerApr. 13, 1949

